Rodney Sieh

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A court in the capital Monrovia on November 18, 2013,
officially ordered the release from prison of FrontPageAfrica
publisher Rodney Sieh and the reopening of the offices of the private daily
newspaper, according to news reports.
The newspaper will resume its daily publication on November 25, 2013, Sieh told
CPJ.

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New York, October 8, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes
Monday's decision by
Liberia's Ministry of Justice to grant Rodney Sieh--the publisher of FrontPageAfrica
who has been jailed since August for not paying libel damages--"compassionate
release" for 30 days. The conditions behind Sieh's release were not clear,
but the journalist's health
had deteriorated in prison.
It is also unclear what will happen to Sieh after 30 days.

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Dear President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: We call on you to decriminalize defamation; adopt monetary damages for libel commensurate with the harm done and within limits Liberians can afford; and halt the incarceration of defendants unable to pay, which is highly unusual in civil cases. We urge you to facilitate the release of jailed journalist Rodney Sieh and the reopening of his newspaper, FrontPageAfrica.

New York,
August 28, 2014--The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed by today's hospitalization of leading Liberian
independent journalist Rodney Sieh, who has been on hunger strike since
his imprisonment on August 21.

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Abuja,
Nigeria, August 23, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemns
moves by Liberian authorities to shut
downFrontPageAfrica and jail
its publisher for not paying US$1.5 million in damages related to a libel
conviction.

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3. Made in China: Models for media and censorship

By Danny O’Brien and Madeline Earp

As the founding editor, in 2005, of the Liberian online investigative news site FrontPage Africa, Rodney Sieh has fought off lawsuits, imprisonment, and death threats. In the face of such pressures, he has still managed to expand the website into one of Liberia’s best-selling daily newspapers, making him a leading figure in both new and traditional news media in the country. It’s not surprising then, that he was one of 17 prominent African journalists and publishers invited by the Chinese government to a three-week “News and Publishing Seminar in Developing Countries” last August in Beijing.

On Monday, Liberian President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, who will contest
for a second term in elections next November, used her annual speech to the legislature to strengthen her image as
the candidate of stability and growth. Among other things, she boasted about
winning the "Friend of the Media" award from the African Editors Forum, the
first for a sitting president. But there was something else: "We are glad," she
said, "that the saga over the weekend has been resolved, allowing us to
continue the distinction of having no journalists or politicians in jail."

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Last week in steamy, rain-soaked Monrovia, anticipation for the World Cup aside, I could already sense the buzz building around presidential elections scheduled for October of 2011. In the coming contest—only the second presidential election since the end of the civil war—Liberians will decide whether to reelect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, for a second term. Just as the daily downpours fill the potholes that mar almost every road in Liberia, giving the illusion of a smooth passable surface, Liberia’s airwaves and newspapers will soon be filled with the political propaganda of the candidates.